I have a white bunket to do my first fermenting in. It's been 1st fermenting since sunday, and today is Friday.
I looked at it last night and noticed no bubbles in the air lock, yet when i opened it up there were tiny bubbles on the top.
I got impatinet and decided to make more bubbles, sturring the wort around.
I notice that the cake at the bottem was there, but slight and slimy....

You probably didn't do any damage, but it's much better to leave it alone.

I assume whatever you used to stir was properly sanitized.

Did you take a gravity reading while you were in there?

It's not unusual for a beer to be essentially fermented out after 5 days, depending on the yeast strain and temperature conditions. I wouldn't necessarily expect that from a Kolsch, though. What temp has it been at and what yeast did you use?

1) Are you sure you had a good seal on the bucket? Sometimes CO2 can escape with your having known.

2) There is water in the airlock, right?

3) When you opened the bucket, was there a ring around the bucket a couple inches above the water line?

4) Not a question, but you should avoid introducing your wort/beer to oxygen once it's been put in the fermenter, as you'll risk infection. Stirring will increase that risk. You're probably fine, but in the future, I would advise against that.

5) As was asked, did you take a hydrometer reading? It may have fermented overnight and you never even noticed.

Questions:
1) Are you sure you had a good seal on the bucket? Sometimes CO2 can escape with your having known.

Almost postive, yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayrton

2) There is water in the airlock, right?

~1/3 full of water

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayrton

3) When you opened the bucket, was there a ring around the bucket a couple inches above the water line?

yes, i scraped that into the bucket and mixed it in, btw, what is that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayrton

4) Not a question, but you should avoid introducing your wort/beer to oxygen once it's been put in the fermenter, as you'll risk infection. Stirring will increase that risk. You're probably fine, but in the future, I would advise against that.

awesome thanks for the heads up

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayrton

5) As was asked, did you take a hydrometer reading? It may have fermented overnight and you never even noticed.

i've read the howtobrew.com and still have not real idea how to do it, i think i should get a test tube or somethnig so i can put it in... *sigh* i have no clue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cweston

What temp has it been at and what yeast did you use?

the temp's been around 70F i believe, it's been in a dark closet in a corner, so i really have no clue.
I dont have to bottle infront of me, but it's from Austin Home Brew, and it's the standard Kolsch kit...(n00bs kit 4 life :-P)

I'm far from an EAC... and please don't take this the wrong way jjasghar, but if those who are new to brewing would throw as much enthusiasm into learning about brewing, as they throw into making their first batch, there would be a lot fewer questions.

Not that I have a problem with the questions.

We're fairly new to brewing too, having only brewed our second batch last weekend, but before we jumped into it we read a lot about how to do it.

Reading is truly fundamental, when it comes to embarking on this hobby.

To not know how to use a hydrometer is rather silly. Granted, with a kit, it's not really needed, but you learn from reading, and THEN doing, not the other way around.

Pick up the Papazian book. The amount of information in there is staggering and it's presented in a way that anyone can understand.

Forums like this are great to share information, but new brewers all too often come here in a panic, looking for information that they should know already.

Like I said... don't take this rambling rant the wrong way. But everyone should know introducing oxygen to fermented wort isn't a great idea.

That ring of stuff (mostly protiens from the krausen) can cause off flavors if stired back into the fermenting wort, but I wouldn't worry too much, you should be fine.

The main key to creating a great homebrew is PATIENCE. If there were tiny bubbles on top, you are probably still fermenting, just wait until Sunday if you plan on racking to a secondary and leave it there for two more weeks, if not, wait till around Wednesday to next Sunday (at least 10-14 days total) to make sure the yeast has had a chance to settle out and fermentation is completely before you bottle.

Just relax, don't worry, and soon you will be able to have a homebrew.

Using the hydrometer is one of those things that i just dont do everytime. I need to start though. Its just a step that i forget from time to time.

Did you hydrometer come in a plastic tube? If it did just fill the tube up with your wort and take a reading. When you take your reading just look at the little line on the hydrometer and see what it reads. Water if i'm correct should read 1.000